2011-08-14 - Empathy Without Understanding
The inside of the base is pretty quiet right now. No one else seems to be around. But inside one of the less finished areas, one figure moves around somewhat noisily, every movement clanking as armor shifts and bangs about. The large box of scrap metal has been moved to here. One at a time, the armored knight Man-at-Arms is pulling out pieces, holding them, and slowly changing them, purifying them and rarifying them into solid, perfect metal braces, shaping them to each space and hole. Then, when he has a few pieces ready, he climbs up into place and starts putting them up. From the look of things, he may well have been at this for several hours, maybe even half a workday. Panacea steps in. She hasn't been around the base much since the news hit about the death of Solomon Mycroft...not even enough for anyone to really ask her what's wrong. Still, she seems somewhat less subdued now as she steps in. Without missing a beat...or asking who Man At Arms is...she opens conversation with, "Can I help you with that/" Man-at-Arms turns as he finishes placing the last of a series, and starts climbing back down. He regards the other figure curiously for several moments, before he actually speaks. "Pardon, Lady. I suspect you must be Lady Panacea, but I cannot be sure." He makes a gracious, old-fashioned bow. "I am Man-at-Arms. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He looks at her, and then the metal. "If you would wish to help, I would not know what talents you could offer. But I would be the height of a cad to refuse aid offered." Wow. This guy really talks like that. Thinks like it too, from what she can tell without probing. "Not much more than an extra set of hands, I'm afraid." There's a smile marking what little of her face is visible. Of course, most of the team know her secret identity by this point...but this is the first time Panacea has met Man At Arms. She's going to assess him a little first...without probing. It's rude to read minds without a good reason, after all. "If you wish to lend those hands, I will not turn you away. But I would not wish to see you hurt or strain yourself." the young blonde knight offers. He sits down, picking up another piece of the scrap. A soft blue glow builds, slowly, from his hands, working outwards as it tries to envelope the piece. Then the hue changes, as he works more energy into the effort. Panacea can watch as the scraps of metal reformulate themselves into another gleaming metallic girder. Interesting trick, right? "Then I was right? You are Lady Panacea? The Superboy said that you are a healer. That is a noble profession." "Neat trick. Can you only change metal or is it more general?" She nods. "Healer and telepath. And if I get hurt, it's never a big deal...unlike some healers I *can* heal myself." Which is always handy, especially as she has no invulnerability or similar. Man-at-Arms sets down the girder, and starts assembling parts for another. "I have never tried to do this with anything but metal. What I create, normally, is metal. I'm trying to use that talent with these. It took me a few hours to get it right." Clearly, he's new to what he can do. "Perhaps you can teach me, at some point, how to better understand what my laying on of hands tells me of others' injuries. Then I may be more helpful in what Lady Phoenix called the 'triage'." Interesting, no? "I can." He's...well, apparently some kind of paladin. Or something. Terra's starting to suspect there might be magic here, and she flinches at the thought that she should ask Solomon about it. Ow. "You can sense injury only...or overall health?" Panacea inquires, moving to see if she can lift one of the girders. Observant, the blonde young man pauses in his work, looking with concern at Panacea after noticing the wince. He doesn't know the cause, and so can only ask, "Are you alright, Lady?" She asked a question, though, so he considers it for a bit. "I can sense their overall health and well-being, and thus I sense when something is not right. Usually, I can make a guess as to what it is I am sensing. But sometimes not. With those at the fire last week, I was often stymied." Who, under the age of eighteen, /ever/ uses the world stymied? Panacea is, for right now, assuming that it's part of the guy's 'schtick'...and he daren't let it slip here in case it slips in public. "I'm fine. My family experienced a loss recently..." With the mask up, she doesn't want to go into details. Although what she's sensing from Man-at-Arms is promising. Man-at-Arms lowers his gaze momentarily, a true sympathetic sadness welling up visibly. "I am sorry for your loss. I know how painful that can be. My apologies for whatever I said to bring that pain to the fore." That said, he closes his eyes and goes back to working, that glow building around the newly assembled pieces. It's the same process, the only variation being the pieces of metal he has before he starts. "Well...I don't have the strength to lift this. Where's Superboy when we need him?" A pause. "It's okay. You didn't do it. But I have to ask. What sort of abilities do you have...is it magic?" She sounds curious, not concerned. "You do not need to lift it. You can simply hold it there, in place. I can lift them easily." That much is obvious, right? Man-at-Arms shrugs. "My abilities are ... myself, I suppose you would say. I believe they must be of some magical nature, but I cannot say with any certainty." He considers her for a bit. Empathy would pick up a 'crack' in the surface of his seemingly supreme confidence and determination, showing an inner core rife with self-doubt and shame, but only for an instant. "I am become an incarnation. A friend called it being an 'avatar'. She, of Love. I, of the Heroic ideal." Panacea ahas. "Heart Girl...she's a friend of yours?" Yeah. Panacea's met her. "I'd like to bump into her again. And me...I'm just the way I am." She's a space alien...half space alien, that is, but that comes with the secret identity. Of course, she catches that...so, it's not a schtick. It's a shield. In a way, perhaps it is a shield. Maybe that is why a shield is a tantamount part of Man-at-Arms? Or maybe it is something more than a shield, just in a way that is not yet clearly defined. "I have met Heart Girl. She was most kind and supportive. I like her." There's a sense of real and deep trust, there. It resonates deeply enough one might even suspect it transcends the change in form. Maybe. "So you understand, then, what I mean? I merely am as I am. I have not tried to define it." At least, not anymore than he already has by existing as he does. Panacea does, however, help steady the girders. It might be all she can do with the strength of an extremely fit teenager, but... "Then it's probably magic. That seems to be one of the qualities of magic...it's not easy to explain and if you can understand it, it's technology." Ha. Well, she's got a point, likely. Well, if it is technology, it isn't /his/ technology, and thusly he uses it as one might that which is magic. "Quite probably so, for all that I know. I consider it similar to Heart Girl's own transformation." Of course, that implies that what - or who - Panacea now sees is not at all like the person who actually becomes Man-at-Arms. He smiles up at the young woman. "You have known the Superboy longer, then? He is a friend?" There's something odd in his curiosity, there. "Taken and as far as I know straight," Panacea comments. Then she grins. "But hot. Seriously hot. I was too slow with him, though. Didn't ask him out and Arrowette beat me to it." Poor Panacea. Yes. She has a crush on Superboy. The young knight grimaces, a deep upwelling of shame flooding out most other emotions readable by the empath, as he looks away. She said telepath. He shakes his head. "I am well aware that he is in a relationship with Lady Arrowette. I was not asking for such a reason as that. I am simply curious to know more about him. It seems there is more to him, and I wonder at what that might be." He is pretty severely uncomfortable now. "He is a handsome young man, a strong hero. I am honored he wishes to be my friend." There's an accusation there, in his tone. Panacea hrms. "I don't know him *that* well...well enough to know he can be trusted, though. And is very cool to hang out with." For her, that's likely enough...she makes friends quite readily, fortunately. "Oh." Man-at-Arms offers, quietly. He doesn't try to say anything more. He doesn't even look up at Panacea again. He just keeps working on another girder. The shame and self-loathing is thick enough to choke a horse. Panacea sighs a bit, then she reaches up and removes her mask. Under it, she's an ordinary, if rather pretty, looking girl. "I'm sorry. I really am...I sometimes forget normal people have these weird hangups about gender." "Normal." Man-at-Arms gruffs bitterly. The self-loathing cranks up a few notches, up to nearly the stomach-cramping degree. He shakes his head, abandoning his attempt to make the last girder as it falls apart in his hands. With a snarl, he throws them across the room towards the boxes from whence they came and lurches to his feet, turning away. "I ... I can guess how it is you know and think the things you do. I will thank you to keep it silent unto the grave, on your honor." That said, the young knight clanks for the exit to the room, making his way through the warren of rooms and passages towards the exit. Category:Logs